1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jam processing assisting device that can perform jam processing with an easy operation, and an image forming apparatus equipped with the jam processing assisting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus using a sheet as a printing medium, jam (paper jam) is likely to occur on a sheet conveying path while a sheet is being conveyed. In many cases, the jammed sheet is stuck between paper carriage rollers. Accordingly, a strong force is required in removing the jammed sheet from the image forming apparatus because a heavy load is applied to the sheet at the time the sheet is extracted from between the carriage rollers. Therefore, in order to reduce the force required in the jam processing, a driving device that drives the carriage rollers has been developed. An example is an auxiliary device (a jam processing assisting device) for sending out the jammed sheet by rotating a stepping motor (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-190803).
That is, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-190803 discloses a jam-processing assisting device in which a stepping motor drives to rotate carriage rollers in the sheet conveying (downstream) direction so as to facilitate the removal of the jammed sheet. Specifically, the jam-processing assisting device designates from an operation panel a motor configured to drive carriage rollers located at a position where the jam has occurred so as to rotate the motor. When designating the motor, rotation time and rotation distance are also designated.
The jam-processing assisting device is convenient in the jamming processing. However, because the device employs a system in which the motor for driving the carriage rollers is designated from the operation panel, there is still a problem to be solved in that the operation work for using the operation panel is complicated for a user.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem of the jam-processing assisting device of the related art, i.e., there is a need to assist the user to drive carriage rollers with an easy operation during jam processing by eliminating a complicated operation of designating a motor or the like from an operation panel as seen in a jam-processing assisting devices of the related art.